Algeria Will Send Oil To Cuba After Venezuelan Supply Falls / 14ymedio

The headquarters of Sonatrach in Oran, Algeria. (Wikicommons)
The headquarters of Sonatrach in Oran, Algeria. (Wikicommons)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio (with information from agencies), Havana, 8 September 2016 – The Algerian state oil company will send crude to Cuba for the first time in the coming month, after a fall of 40% in the supply from Venezuela recorded in the first half of the year, according to information from Reuters on Thursday.

The sources consulted, which preferred to remain anonymous, revealed that they anticipated sending about 515,000 barrels of crude to the island in October and that Sonatrach could repeat the operation in November and December.

Cuba produces only 40% of the oil it consumes and imports between 200 million and 300 million dollars in oil products from Algeria every year, as well as maintaining an agreement for the supply of crude under an assistance program with Venezuela, which is experiencing the worst decline in production in more than a decade, because of its economic situation as well as low world fuel prices.

Although there are no official figures, Cuba is estimated to be receiving fewer than 80,000 barrels a day from Venezuela, far from the 105,000 that arrived during Hugo Chavez’s presidency.

On Monday, Cuban President Raul Castro asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for a stable supply of petroleum and its derivatives for the island.